This story occurs immediately after the events of Dark Tide: Ruin. Because this contains many spoilers, do not read this unless you have already read the book. These characters and situations belong to Lucasfilm, Ltd. No money was made off of this, as it was created solely for entertainment purposes. Do not repost anywhere without the permission of the author!
"No way!" Booster growled, shifting his angry glare from Ganner to Corran to Mirax, who had only returned from Exocron the day before. "Not my ship, and not into the Chiss territory. What do you think this is Corsec? Your personal yacht?"
"Look, Booster, it'll take us nearly four weeks to get into Chiss territory on a cargo freighter. On the EV, it'll only take two. We don't have to take it all the way in, but it will certainly save us some time."
"And it'll give Corran more time to spend with me and the kids," Mirax added, looking at her Father impatiently and crossing her arms.
Booster held his hands up in surrender. "All right, all right. But this better be it for the EV and all these risks. I'd like to keep my ship in one piece."
"Daddy…" Mirax started, but corran put his right hand on her arm and gave her a little squeeze. "That's fair enough," he said.
Booster nodded. "Good. Now, I have some work to do…"
"We'll see you later, Booster," Corran said.
"Yeah," Booster replied, turning on his heels and leaving.
"I've got some training to catch up on," Ganner asserted, "I'll catch you two later."
"Okay, Ganner."
"Bye," Mirax said, waving.
After Ganner left, Mirax turned to look at corran. "So, Corsec, how about we do a little catching up ourselves?"
"Hmm," Corran muttered, a grin playing across his lips. "I assume you mean a little more than just talking."
"Why?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You got any objections to that?"
"Not hardly," he responded.
"Then let's not waste anymore time."
It was the same dream as usual, but this time, as the light emitted from the Vong's opened mouth turned to black blood and the face morphed into Elegos's, Corran no longer saw a plea for mercy in those big violet eyes.
Perplexed by the change, Corran gazed at Elegos's facial features. No, it wasn't mercy Elegos sought.
"If the wind no longer calls you, it is time to see if you have forgotten your name."
The Vong's body disappeared, and there in his place stood Elegos A'kla looking measuringly at Corran…and almost sympathetically.
"What?" Corran asked numbly, closing down his lightsaber.
"If the wind no longer calls you, it is time to see if you have forgotten your name," Elegos repeated.
Corran shook his head, as though trying to clear confusion from it. "I don't understand."
"You somehow think that by avoiding the Vong you'll never be faced with the temptation of the Dark Side again. But you will face the Vong again, and there will be another confrontation. And you will decide what path to take then. I've known you Corran, and I know the truth you stand for and that it is truth you have always fought for. I trust you will make the right choice, and you must relearn to trust yourself in the same way."
"Why haven't you told me this before?"
"Until now, you weren't ready to hear it. Now you are, and your time of final confrontation will soon be at hand. The wind is still calling your name, Corran. It's time you remember what it is."
Two weeks later, the EV exited hyperspace near the planet that once housed the "Hand of Thrawn", a military base that had been taken out a few years before by Mara Jade's personal ship, the Jade's Fire.
A week before, Ganner had made contact with the Chiss leader, Admiral Voss Parck. Parck was none too thrilled with having Jedi on the planet again after the fiasco with Luke and Mara, but eventually he agreed to at least listen to what they had to say. Apparently, with the Vong attacking the rest of the galaxy, Parck felt the Remnant had been neglecting him and his planet. Ganner agreed that the New Republic would, on receiving any valuable information from the Chiss, see to their protection.
Early that morning, Corran and Ganner met in the docking bay of the EV, Corran arriving last. Ganner, who already had been warming up the Lioness's engines, stood outside the ship.
"Well, we're set to go, Corran," he said. "Or should I start calling you Keiran again?"
Corran shook his head. "Not this time, Ganner. I've given this a lot of thought, and I've got to go into this as myself."
"Are you sure? You think this is what the vision was all about?"
"Yes. You might think it's risky, but it's a step I've got to take. Besides, the Chiss might not even now about Ithor. And even if they do, I've got to trust that the truth will prevail. I can't go on as Keiran Halcyon forever."
"Well, this is your mission, so you call the shots. Admrial Parck is waiting in his ship to meet us."
"Then let's not keep him waiting," Corran said.
After docking with Parck's small battleship, Corran and Ganner stepped off the Lioness to meet the Admiral. They were met in the docking bay by a blue-skinned Chiss named Stent. Looking the two Jedi over sternly, Stent finally said, "Welcome to our ship the Remnant. Admiral Parck is waiting for you in his office."
"Thank you for allowing us to meet with him," Corran said casually.
"Don't thank me," Stent replied coolly. "It was not my decision. If you would follow me, I'll take you to the Admiral's office."
With that, Stent lead Corran and Ganner to a small office just beyond the docking bay. The office was sparsely decorated with a small desk and two chairs in front of it. Behind it sat another Chiss with gray hair. The Chiss was wearing a white Imperial Grand Admiral's uniform. Corran figured that since he was so far in the Unknown Regions, the Admiral didn't realize the Empire was all but dead.
"Admiral, these are the Jedi," Stent said, stepping over to the Admiral's side. "Ganner and Corran Horn," he said, adding emphasis to Corran's name. Corran tried to ignore it. Admiral Parck had no intention of letting him ignore it though.
"Corran Horn? Aren't you the Jedi that killed Ithor?" Parck said. "Surely you know my sentiments concerning Jedi who destroy. It was your Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker who destroyed my precious base down there," he said pointing to the planet below.
Corran took a deep breath. He hadn't been grilled about Ithor in a while-mostly because he avoided it. He really didn't know how to justify it yet himself, even if Elegos insisted he was not in the wrong about it. He struggled for clarity of mind…and an answer.
"Corran had nothing but the best intentions for Ithor when he faced that warrior," Ganner put in.
"Let Jedi Horn speak for himself," Parck said evenly.
"I made a bet for Ithor because I knew that many lives were at stake," Corran began. "I can't deny that in fighting that Vong warrior I wasn't seeking some revenge for my friend who was brutally killed by him. But even Jedi make mistakes…" Suddenly it hit Corran…had he been expecting himself to always make the right choice ever time all along because he was a Jedi? He was no less human just because he was a Jedi…and Ithor would have died regardless…
"So I see. But, Jedi Horn, you still lost a planet as a result of your error. How can I be sure that the same won't happen if I offer you my help?"
This wasn't going well at all. Corran's mouth was going dry. Parck wasn't going to like the answer, but he had to be truthful. "I can't guarantee it won't happen. But Ithor was a test of Vong honor. I won the duel, and in doing so, I should have saved Ithor. But Ithor was lost regardless of the conditions of the duel. And Ithor would have been taken into Vong hands without the duel for certain. There comes a time in every person's life when they must decide whether to stay inactive and save themselves or to take action and risk losing themselves in the process. I took that chance, and while I defeated the Vong warrior, I still lost. But no one can say I never tried. Now the choice is yours. You can stay inactive and perhaps protect your planet a little longer, or you can take action and tell us what you know of the vong so we might have a chance of saving the galaxy. We'll continute to fight the Vong regardless of your decision, but should you accept our request, you can be assured no one will ever accuse you of not trying to help, just as they can never accuse me of not trying to help. So what do you say, Admiral?"
Parck looked Corran over measuringly. "Perhaps I have misjudged you, Jedi Corran Horn. And from the reports I've been hearing of you, it is likely I'm not the only one. You admit your faults, and yet you still fight the cause. The Chiss have not always made the best decisions nor have we always been perfect. But we have always taken action. We too have been misjudged, Jedi Horn. I will accept your request for information. What we know of the Yuuzhan Vong, you shall know. And I can guarantee you, it will be enough to send you on your way to furthur pursuing them--and hopefully defeating them."
"I don't like it, Corran," Mirax said from her perch on the bed, looking her husband over from across their quarters on the Errant Venture. "How can you believe anything the Chiss say?"
"Mirax, it's the best lead we've had. Besides, the Chiss have never been untrue to their word as far as we know. And Thrawn was never one for lies either, regardless of his station as a Grand Admiral in the Empire."
"That's true enough," Mirax agreed. "But I wish we could be more certain, and I wish I could help."
"You've already been more help to me than you could ever know," Corran said, gazing at her solemnly. "This has to be done fairly, no trickery included. Ganner and I originally discussed sending a second party in to scout, but it is extremely dangerous and we must not do anything to jepordize our mission. The best thing you can do for me is keep your father and the Errant Venture in system so we can bust out of here if we must."
"You needn't worry about that. I'm not leaving the system without you. What are the final arrangements?"
"Well, Ganner and I are going to go in the Vong camp on Yuran 4 as ambassadors. We have already arranged to meet with the leading authorities on the camp with the help of Admiral Parck, but we were made no promises on the possible outcomes of the meeting. Although these Yuuzhan Vong are said to be less hostile and militaristic as the ones now invading us, they still have enough of the warrior background for this to be a dangerous mission. Parck even mentioned a "honor duel" that the Vong sometimes fight with new visitors to establish their credibility. If we must fight, we will, but I am hoping this visit will allow us to tap into and further understand Vong society."
"And if it doesn't, we are back to square one."
"But at least we'll know we will have tried."
"True enough," she said, biting her lip thoughtfully. "Corran?"
"Hmm???"
"About…the honor duel…if that should happen, are you going to let Ganner fight, or are you going to take that responsibility? I know you've had that vision of Elegos, and you told me what he said. I know you'll make the right decision and I trust you fully, but I would really like to know before you leave."
Corran thought a moment. "I wish I knew the answer to that one too. I don't want to go into this thing with any preconceived ideas. I'm truly hoping the Vong will leave an honor duel out of this. If they choose to go through with an honor duel, and I have a bad feeling that they might, I'll make the decision then. Elegos did tell me there would be another confrontation and that I would face another Vong, and that prediction has already come true. I'm not going to assume just yet that I should then also pursue a fight if one occurs. I'm going to let the Force guide me to an answer, and if I must choose, I will choose based only on what the Force leads me to do. This is the only way I can be certain that I haven't crossed the line between the good side and the bad, once and for all, because once I make that decision, there is no turning back…"
